This invention relates to covers for electrical substations, and in particular to covers for existing electrical substations to prevent weather related damage to components of these substations.
Electrical power transmission comprises a variety of systems for transmitting power from one facility to another. Various functions include switching stations, step down transformers, and so on. Equipment contained in these substations includes circuit breakers, devices for switching equipment in and out of service, lightning arrestors, and sophisticated abnormality control systems. Frequently the most practical or only location for electrical substations is the outdoors. One of the most important factors in electrical reliability then becomes the elimination of water from penetrating into these outdoor facilities.
Many attempts have been made, of course, to overcome the effects of weather on sensitive electrical and electronic components to be located outdoors, For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,952,799, issued Sep. 13, 1960, an outdoor metal clad switchgear structure is disclosed. In this structure, a basic unit 10 (FIG. 1) encloses a circuit breaker cell 13. An enclosed service isle 11 (FIG. 13) provides protection for maintenance personnel from the weather while servicing the equipment, and access to electrical components, such as a circuit breaker, is provided without exposure of the components to the outdoor weather. Again, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,723,824, issued Mar. 27, 1973, a telescoping outdoor switchgear assemblage is described. This patent teaches "the switch gear is so constructed that the aisle section and switchboard section may be telescoped over one another during shipment, thereby to reduce volume and shipping costs while simplifying erection in the field.", col. 1, lines 33-38. U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,530, issued May 4, 1982, discloses an enclosure for weatherproofing electrical equipment such as outside plant telephone electronics. In this invention a mushroom shaped hood 11 (FIG. 1) is supported by a spring-driven lifting mechanism 12 which automatically raises the hood above the level of the enclosed electronic equipment when the lifting mechanism is unlatched. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,463, issued Aug. 4, 1992, a universal enclosure for housing outside plant equipment in order to protect the equipment from harmful weather effects is disclosed. An electrical panel mounted internally of the universal enclosure, but accessible from the exterior of the universal enclosure, facilitates servicing the equipment while maintaining craft separation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,641, issued Jul. 25, 1995, teaches a cabinet 1 (FIG. 1) having a unitary or monobloc body of pressed construction, such a glass fiber-reinforced polyester, to protect electrical equipment exposed to the weather.
While the above noted inventions provide useful devices and methods for protecting various electrical systems from weather related harmful effects, they do not envision the adjustable cover for pre-existing electrical substations of the present invention.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a protective cover for outdoor electrical substations.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a linear adjustable, telescoping cover for protecting pre-existing outdoor bus ducts from weather related deleterious effects.
A further object of the invention is to provide a telescoping construction to eliminate any type of seam on the horizontal or vertical by the use of overlapping flanges at each end of the weather protective cover.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable, weather resistant fiber glass reinforced plastic cover for pre-existing electrical substations.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a weather protective cover to accommodate virtually all designs of 13 kV bus ducts.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a weather protective cover to accommodate virtually all designs of 4 kV class "C" switchgear.